NEWS ARTICLES

ND/MBA changes admissions criteria for One-Year Program

New guidelines recognize value of work experience

The University of Notre Dame MBA program at the Mendoza
College of Business has made a significant change to the admissions criteria
for its One-Year Program that will allow prospective students with a broad
range of undergraduate degrees to apply.

Historically the Notre Dame One-Year MBA Program required
applicants to have a business undergraduate degree. Now the program invites all
prospective students who have a demonstrated proficiency in business knowledge
and skills—plus three credit hours of financial accounting and three credit hours
of statistics—to apply.

“Often a prospective student gains the kind of foundational
knowledge needed for the program through a significant work experience that
involved roles and responsibilities such as project management, resource
allocation strategies, budget planning and employee supervision,” said MaryGoss, senior director of The Notre Dame MBA. “And what we are finding is that people with a
broad array of knowledge and experience are seeking a business degree in order
to have impact through diverse career paths. The change in the One-Year Program
admissions criteria allows us to recognize and accommodate the changing
landscape.”

The Notre Dame MBA One-Year Program format is designed for
candidates with at least two years of work experience who typically are not
looking for a major career change. (Visit the Notre Dame MBA One-Year website to view all admissions requirements.)

“The priority of our admissions policy is to bring in the
best applicants – people who want a high-quality education, are willing to work
hard and who share our sense of mission to do things differently, to be
concerned with ethics and values,” said Brian Lohr, admissions director for The
Notre Dame MBA. “The One-Year Program is intense, but we recognize the value of
work experience and are confident a student can be successful if all of those
elements are in place.”

“At the Mendoza College, ‘business’ has come to mean a way
of impacting the world for the better. It’s a perspective as much as it is a
series of skills or set of knowledge,” said Goss.

The May-to-May curriculum provides a balanced mastery of all
functional areas of business. During the 10-week summer semester, students
attend intensive sessions in the core disciplines, then join the second year of
the Two-Year Program in the fall semester. Throughout the program, students are
exposed to the complexities of global business through a series of engagements
with business leaders worldwide.

The new guidelines apply for the incoming 2014-15 class, which has
its first application deadline of Nov. 4, 2013.

The Notre Dame MBA traditional Two-Year Program is intended
for students with non-business undergraduate degrees and three to five years of
work experience, who often are looking for new career opportunities. They
participate in internships during the summer months.

The Notre Dame MBA is noted for its innovative teaching,
with such signature courses as Problem Solving, Business Forecasting and Data
Mining, Business on the Frontlines, Innovation and Design, and Applied
Investment Management. The program is ranked No. 20 among U.S. business schools
in the Bloomberg Businessweek
magazine’s biennial survey, “The Best U.S. Business
Schools 2012.” It also earned “A’s” for career services, teaching quality,
critical thinking and leadership skills. For more information, visit business.nd.edu/mba/